The present invention relates to integrated circuits formed in semiconductor materials and in particular relates to methods for forming via openings in semiconductor substrates and the resulting structures. More particularly, the invention relates to the use of such vias to form monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) in silicon carbide (SiC).
The present invention relates to the manufacture of via openings (xe2x80x9cviasxe2x80x9d) in integrated circuits (ICs), and in particular relates to a method of forming such vias in silicon carbide in order to take advantage of silicon carbide""s electronic, thermal, and mechanical properties in the manufacture and use of monolithic microwave integrated circuits.
MMICs
In its most basic sense, a monolithic microwave integrated circuit is an integrated circuit; i.e., a circuit formed up a plurality of devices; in which all of the circuit components are manufactured on top of a single semiconductor substrate, and which is designed to operate at microwave frequencies. As is generally the case with integrated circuits, the advantage of placing the device and circuit components on a single substrate is one of saving space. Smaller circuit size offers numerous advantages for electronic circuits and the end-use devices that incorporate such circuits. In general, the end use devices can be smaller while offering a given set of functions, or more circuits and functions can be added to devices of particular sizes, or both advantages can be combined as desired. From an electronic standpoint, integrated circuits help reduce or eliminate problems such as parasitic capacitance loss that can arise when discrete devices are wire-bonded to one another to form circuits. These advantages can help integrated circuits operate at improved bandwidths as compared to circuits that are xe2x80x9cwiredxe2x80x9d together from discrete components.
Wireless communications systems represent one area of recent and rapid growth in integrated circuits and related commercial technology. Such systems are exemplified, although not limited to, cellular radio communication systems. One estimate predicts that the number of wireless subscribers for such phones will continue to grow worldwide and will exceed 450 million users in the immediate future. The growth of such technologies will require that devices are smaller, more powerful and easier to manufacture. These desired advantages apply to base, relay and switching stations as well as to end user devices such as the cellular phones themselves.
As recognized by those of ordinary skill in this art, many wireless devices, and in particular cellular phone systems, operate in the microwave frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum. Although the term xe2x80x9cmicrowavexe2x80x9d is somewhat arbitrary, and the boundaries between various classifications or frequencies are likewise arbitrary, an exemplary choice for the microwave frequencies would include wavelengths of between about 3,000 and 300,000 microns (xcexc), which corresponds to frequencies of between about 1 and 100 gigahertz (GHz).
As further known by those of ordinary skill in this art, these particular frequencies are most conveniently produced or supported by certain semiconductor materials. For example, although discrete (i.e., individual) silicon (Si) based devices can operate at microwave frequencies, silicon-based integrated circuits suffer from lower electron mobility and are generally disfavored for frequencies above about 3-4 Ghz. Silicon""s inherent conductivity also limits the gain that can be delivered at high frequencies.
Accordingly, devices that operate successfully on a commercial basis in the microwave frequencies are preferably formed of other materials, of which gallium arsenide (GaAs) is presently a material of choice. Gallium arsenide offers certain advantages for microwave circuits and monolithic microwave integrated circuits, including a higher electron mobility than silicon and a greater insulating quality.
Because of the frequency requirements for microwave devices and microwave communications, silicon carbide is a favorable candidate material for such devices and circuits. Silicon carbide offers a number of advantages for all types of electronic devices, and offers particular advantages for microwave frequency devices and monolithic microwave integrated circuits. Silicon carbide has an extremely wide band gap (e.g., 2.996 electron volts (eV) for alpha SiC at 300K as compared to 1.12 eV for Si and 1.42 for GaAs), has a high electron mobility, is physically very hard, and has outstanding thermal stability, particularly as compared to other semiconductor materials. For example, silicon has a melting point of 1415xc2x0 C. (GaAs is 1238xc2x0 C.), while silicon carbide typically will not begin to disassociate in significant amounts until temperatures reach at least about 2000xc2x0 C. As another factor, silicon carbide can be fashioned either as a semiconducting material or a semi-insulating material. Because insulating or semi-insulating substrates are often required for MMICs, this is a particularly advantageous aspect of silicon carbide.
MMICs are fabricated with backside metallic ground planes, to which contacts must be made from various points in the MMIC, for example at transmission line terminations. Traditionally, this has been accomplished by wire bonds. Although wire bonding techniques can be used for other devices that operate at other frequencies, they are disadvantageous at microwave frequencies in silicon carbide devices. In particular, wires tend to cause undesired inductance at the microwave frequencies at which silicon carbide devices are capable of operating. For frequencies above 10 GHz, wire bonding simply must be avoided altogether. Accordingly, such wire bonding is desirablyxe2x80x94and sometimes necessarilyxe2x80x94avoided in silicon carbide-based MMICs.
The use of conductive vias (i.e., via openings filled or coated with metal) to replace wire bonds is a potential solution to this problem. To date, however, opening vias in silicon carbide has been rather difficult because of its extremely robust physical characteristics, which, as noted above, are generally advantageous for most other purposes.
Etching and Etchants
Etching is a process that removes material (e.g., a thin film on a substrate or the substrate itself) by chemical or physical reaction or both. There are two main categories of etching: wet and dry. In wet etching, chemical solutions are used to etch, dry etching uses a plasma. Silicon carbide does not lend itself rapidly to wet etching because of SiC""s stability and high bond strength. Consequently, dry etching is most often used to etch silicon carbide.
In dry etching, a plasma discharge is created by transferring energy (typically electromagnetic radiation in the RF or microwave frequencies) into a low-pressure gas. The gas is selected so that its plasma-state etches the substrate material. Various fluorine-containing compounds (e.g., CF4, SF6, C4F8) are typically used to etch silicon carbide and different plasma reactor systems may also use gas additives such as oxygen (O2), hydrogen (H2), or argon (Ar). The plasma contains gas molecules and their dissociated fragments: electrons, ions, and neutral radicals. The neutral radicals play a part in etching by chemically reacting with the material to be removed while the positive ions traveling towards a negatively charged substrate assist the etching by physical bombardment.
Reactive ion etching (RIE) systems typically use one RF generator. The RF power is fed into one electrode (the xe2x80x9cchuck,xe2x80x9d on which the wafers are placed), and a discharge results between this electrode and the grounded electrode. In such systems, the capacitive nature of RF energy coupling limits the density of the plasma, which in turn leads to lower etch rates of silicon carbide. In RIE systems, plasma density and ion energy are coupled and cannot be independently controlled. When RF input power increases, plasma density and ion energy both increase. As a result, RIE systems cannot produce the type of high density and low energy plasma favorable for etching vias in silicon carbide.
In inductively coupled plasma (ICP) systems, two RF generators are used. One feeds RF, power to a coil wrapped around the non-conductive discharge chamber. The second feeds power to the electrode (chuck) on which the wafers are placed. In such systems, the inductive nature of the RF energy coupling increases the efficiency of energy coupling and hence the density of the plasma. Additionally, the plasma density can be independently controlled by the coil RF power, while the ion energy can be independently controlled by the chuck RF power. Thus, ICP systems can produce the high density and low energy plasmas that are favorable for etching vias in silicon carbide.
Etches are performed on selected areas of the wafer by masking areas of the wafer that do not need to be etched. The ratio of the etch rate of the substrate (the material to be etched) to the etch rate of the mask material is referred to as the xe2x80x9cselectivityxe2x80x9d of the etch. For deep etches and faithful pattern transfer, high selectivity etches are desired.
Etches generally proceed in both the vertical and horizontal directions. The vertical direction can be measured as etch depth in the unmasked areas, while the horizontal direction can be measured as undercut under the mask areas. The degree of anisotropy is expressed by how much the ratio of the horizontal etch rate to the vertical etch rate deviates from unity. When the etch rate in the vertical direction is much greater than the rate in the horizontal direction, the etch is called anisotropic. The reverse characteristic is referred to as being isotropic. Because of silicon carbide""s high bond strength, it does not etch without ion bombardment in the horizontal direction. As a result, dry etches of silicon carbide are generally anisotropic.
In contrast, etches of silicon (Si) in ICP systems are generally isotropic. This results from silicon""s low bond strength, because of which it readily etches in the horizontal direction. Silicon etches can be made anisotropic by using the Bosch process that alternates a deposition step for sidewall protection and an etch step.
The use of ICP (inductively coupled plasma) and ECR (electron cyclotron resonance) sources for SiC etching have resulted in higher etch rates as compared to RIE (reactive ion etch). Both ICP and ECR systems use lower operating pressure (e.g., 1 to 20 milliTorr), higher plasma density (1011 to 1012 cmxe2x88x923) and lower ion energies compared to RIE systems. The combination of these parameters result in high etch rate of SiC and minimal erosion of the etch mask. RIE systems use higher pressure (10 to 300 milliTorr) lower plasma density (1010 cmxe2x88x923) and higher ion energies to break SiC bonds and etch; however, the detrimental effects of high ion energies and low plasma density include mask erosion and lower etch rate.
As reported in the scientific literature by McDaniel et al., Comparison of Dry Etch Chemistries for SiC, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A., 15(3), 885 (1997), scientists have been successful in etching SiC using an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma. Scientific studies have determined that higher ion density ECR discharges of CF4/O2 or SF6/O2 results in a much higher etch rate than RIE. In contrast with RIE, there have been no observed benefits to adding oxygen to either NF3 or SF6 during ECR etching.
Previous attempts at using plasma chemistries for high-density plasma etching of SiC include the use of chlorine (Cl2), bromine (Br2), or iodine (I2)-based gases. However, the use of fluorine-based gas has produced much higher etch rates. For example, Hong et al., Plasma Chemistries for High Density Plasma Etching of SiC, J. Electronic Materials, Vol. 28, No. 3, 196 (1999), discusses dry etching of 6H-SiC using a variety of plasma chemistries which include sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), chlorine (Cl2), iodine chloride (ICl), and iodine bromide (IBr) in high ion density plasma tools (i.e., ECR and ICP). These efforts have achieved etch rates of around 0.45 xcexcm/minute (4500 xc3x85/minute) with SF6 plasmas. Alternatively, Cl2, ICl, and IBr-based chemistries in ECR and ICP sources resulted in lower rates of 0.08 xcexcm/minute (800 xc3x85/minute). It was found that fluorine-based plasma chemistries produced the most rapid, and hence most desirable, etch rates for SiC under high-density plasma conditions. Unfortunately, the fluorine-based chemistries displayed a poor selectivity for SiC with respect to photoresist masks.
Wang et al. reported in Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching of Bulk 6H-SiC and Thin-film SiCN in NF3 Chemistries, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, 16(4) (1998) the etching characteristics of 6H p+ and n+ SiC and thin-film SiC0.5N0.5 in inductively coupled plasma NF3/O2 and NF3/Ar discharges wherein etch rates of 0.35 xcexc/minute (3,500 xc3x85/minute) were achieved.
In further scientific literature, Cao et al., Etching of SiC Using Inductively Coupled Plasmna, J. Electrochem. Soc., Vol. 145, No. 10 (1998) discusses plasma etching in an ECR plasma using CF4 and O2 gas at flow rates of 20 standard cubic centimeters per minute (sccm) and 9 sccm, respectively, attained an etch rate in SiC of about 0.05 xcexcm/minute (500 xc3x85/minute). The process resulted in a 14 xcexcm deep trench having a smooth bottom surface. Further, the low chamber pressure (i.e., 7 mTorr) minimized micromasking effects during the deep etch trenching. During the Cao et al. investigation, substrate bias was maintained at 10 V and the coil power was maintained at 700 W.
In view of the technologies discussed above, a primary objective of SiC via etching is finding a process in which SiC is etched at a reasonable rate while erosion of the etch mask is kept to a minimum. The factors affecting this objective are the choice of mask material, plasma chemistry, plasma density, and ion energy. A secondary objective when etching vias in SiC is obtaining smooth etch surfaces.
Therefore there is a need for a process in which SiC may be etched at a reasonably rapid rate while erosion of the etch mask is minimized.
There is also a need for a method for etching a via in SiC of sufficient depth and at a reasonable rate which results in a smooth surface at the bottom of the via trench.
A further need exists for a technique that successfully incorporates the use of appropriate vias in semi-conducting silicon carbide substrates to facilitate the manufacture of silicon carbide based MMICS and the end use devices that can be formed with the silicon carbide-based MMICS.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of etching vias in and entirely through silicon carbide substrates, in a manner which favorably differentiates between the silicon carbide be etched and the masking material.
The invention meets this object with a method of etching a via on a silicon carbide substrate that has first and second surfaces on opposite sides of the substrate. The method comprises placing a conductive etch stop material at a predetermined position on a first surface of a silicon carbide substrate, masking the second surface of the silicon carbide substrate to define a predetermined location for a via that is opposite from the predetermined position for the conductive etch stop material, etching a via in the substrate from the masked second surface until the etched via reaches entirely through the substrate to the conductive etch stop material, and connecting the conductive etch stop material on the first surface of the substrate to the second surface of the substrate.
In another aspect, the invention comprises the method of fabricating integrated circuits on silicon carbide substrates while reducing the need for wire bonding that can otherwise cause undesired inductance at high frequencies.
In another aspect, the invention comprises a circuit precursor comprising a silicon carbide substrate having respective first and second surfaces, a via extending entirely through the silicon carbide substrate, and a conductive contact through the via connecting the front and back surfaces of the silicon carbide substrate.
In yet another aspect, the invention is a Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) comprising a semi-insulating silicon carbide substrate having respective opposite first and second surfaces, a microwave circuit formed on the first surface of the substrate, the circuit including a plurality of conductive contacts on the first surface, a plurality of vias extending entirely through the substrate with each of the vias terminating at one of the conductive contacts, and a conductor in each via for forming a complete electrical pathway between the first and second surfaces of the silicon carbide substrate.